Abstract
The purpose of this cohort is to facilitate access to authentic oral Spanish language to students of Spanish via the Internet. Because the Spanish language is used in many geographical areas, with many dialectal varieties, we plan to create a bank of Spanish oral samples, showcasing the different accents and varied vocabulary and expressions found in each of the Spanish-speaking countries. We would also like to try to facilitate contact between real Spanish speakers and students via audio-mail, so learners have opportunities to actually hear and speak to real speakers of those varieties.
This cohort will bring together a foreign language teacher trainer, a pre-service Spanish teacher, and a Spanish language college coordinator and Spanish professor. In addition, we will locate a local Spanish teacher and a school student.
Our area of interest is the availability of real oral Spanish language to students of Spanish with few opportunities to travel and/or to have access to oral manifestations of the Hispanic culture. Traditionally, oral language is presented to classroom students in the form of audio and videotapes, in addition to the oral skills of the language teacher. Because the Spanish language is so rich in dialects, students in the classroom are usually exposed to a very limited array of these varieties. At the same time, opportunities to communicate orally with actual Spanish speakers are also limited.
We plan to construct a website with two distinct parts:
- A bank of oral samples from different Spanish-speaking countries (Spain, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela...) showcasing the different accents, as well as particular vocabulary and expressions (for example, Spaniards say "coche" for ‘car,’ whereas Mexicans say "carro."
- Native speakers of Spanish around the Hispanic world would be contacted (via educational institutions) and asked to volunteer to be "oral pen-pals." The messages sent between these individuals and the users of our website will be audio-messages, that is, short oral recordings will be made and sent back and forth as audio-files. That way, users will not only have an opportunity to hear actual speakers of Spanish, from every variety, but they also will be able to practice their own oral abilities for real communication.
Members
- Manuela González-Bueno, Assistant Professor of Foreign Language Education in the Department of Teaching & Leadership at KU, and a native speaker of Spanish.
Dr. González-Bueno will help with the conceptualization of the project, and will make sure that the methods and objectives are appropriate to the goals of foreign language learning.
- Carmen Ruiz, a pre-service Spanish teacher, also a native speaker of Spanish. Ms. Ruiz will investigate the feasibility of the project and coordinate the technical aspects. In collaboration with Dr. González-Bueno, they will provide the content and design of the project.
- Todd Hernández, a graduate student of Foreign Language Education, and a GTA at the Spanish and Portuguese Department, where he teaches basic Spanish language courses. He is a native speaker of Spanish, and is particularly interested in the study of Spanish dialects.
- Rosalea Postma-Cartar, an Assistant Specialist and the Director of the Basic Spanish Language Program in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at KU. Dr. Postma-Cartar will contribute by evaluating the project and its impact upon learners of Spanish in a college classroom setting. She can seek reaction and feedback from her own students and GTAs teaching Spanish in the Spanish Department.
In addition, we will locate a local Spanish teacher and a school student, who will contribute with their own ideas and evaluation of the project, from the perspective of a School teacher and a school student respectively.
Process and Scope of Work
- We will first develop an approximately two-pages long abstract of the project, explaining its significance and pedagogical value to the community of teachers and learners of Spanish as a foreign language.
- We will make some initial recordings (three or four samples of Spanish language varieties), and pilot the format of the project.
- Once we agree on one final format, we will continue with the recording sessions (initially, up to 10-12 samples, depending on speakers availability.)
- We will pilot-test the project in two ways: First, we will test it with ready-available undergraduates students of Spanish at KU, from whom we will elicit extensive feedback. Second, once refined with the undergraduates’ suggestions, we will pilot-test it with grade school students.
Deliverables
- White paper: An abstract of the project, explaining its significance and pedagogical value to the community of teachers and learners of Spanish as a foreign language.
- Pilot project: A mini-website to test the feasibility, format, design, etc. of the larger project.
- Actual website: An expanded version of the pilot, which will be as close to the final version as possible (some adjustments are expected, of course.)
- Formative evaluation: Actual implementation of the project at both college and K-12 level, eliciting feedback from the users.
Timeline
White paper Jan. 01
Pilot project March 01
Actual website May 01
Formative evaluation September 01
Resources
The main resource that the cohort needs at this time is periodic training (of which Carmen and Todd will be the main receptacle) and technical support (in the form of design, software, hardware...etc.)
In addition, we will need magnetic tapes, a digital tape-recorder, and a soundproof environment to do the recordings, so they are of the highest quality.
Institutionalization/Extension
If the project is done (in the way it has been conceived so far), it will be available to every Spanish teacher and student. Its content and possibilities could be expanded with the contributions of future users. The design could be shared with individuals learning other foreign languages (French, German...) who might be interested in replicating the same idea (French oral varieties: France, Belgium, Canada, Louisiana...; German oral varieties: Germany, Switzerland...; etc.
Evaluation
Primarily the members of the cohort will evaluate the product --the home page and links-, which are experienced individuals in the fields of both teaching and learning languages. Subsequently, the project will be tested with College level students (via Dr. Postma-Cartar and Mr. Hernández) and K-12 students (via the two members of the cohort representing a schoolteacher and a school student.)
In terms of the evaluation of how the group worked together, we would administer periodic questionnaires, or request from all members to write periodic reflective paragraphs.
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